 A fiercely individualistic performer, as unconventional in his public as in his private life, Richard Harris became a star as the masochistic North Country rugby player in This Sporting Life (d. Lindsay Anderson, 1963), and appearing on both screen (US, d. Joshua Logan, 1966) and stage as King Arthur in Camelot. He was Rabelaisian in his drinking, and yet wrote fiction and poetry, reading it at New York's Lincoln Center in 1972 and publishing his first book of verse the following year.
After RADA he joined Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, Stratford East, where he appeared in The Quare Fellow. He made his screen debut in Alive and Kicking (d. Cyril Frankel, 1958) under contract to Associated British, and his 6'2" frame led to a string of action heroes, including The Heroes of Telemark (d. Anthony Mann, 1965), and he was an impressive Cromwell (d. Ken Hughes, 1970). He starred for Antonioni in Red Desert (Il deserto rosso, Italy, 1964) and in many Hollywood films, including A Man Called Horse (1970) and its sequels, and Gladiator (UK/US, d. Ridley Scott, 2000).
He was Oscar-nominated for This Sporting Life and The Field (UK/Ireland, d. Jim Sheridan, 1990). His second wife (1974-1982) was actress Ann Turkel and sons by his first wife are director Damian Harris and actor Jared Harris.
Books: Richard Harris: A Sporting Life by Michael Feeney Callan (1990); Richard Harris: Actor By Accident by Gus Smith.
Anthony Slide, Encyclopedia of British Film
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